Automatic marker changers for farm implements



D United States Patent [72] Inventors Earl P. Morehouse; [56] Refer eCit d Marvin L. Johnson, Bristol, South Dakota UNITED STATES PATENTS P1,888,502 11/1932 1101mm 172/130 {221 PM 1968 2 362 693 11/1944 11 172130 Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 574,162,

3,021,905 2/1962 Qu1bell.... l72/255X 1966 abandmd' 3 107 734 10/1963Rich n 111/33x [45] Patented Nuns, 1970 ma [73] Assignee Deere 8;Company Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Molina, Illinois AssistantExaminerRonald C. Harrington a corporation of Delaware Attorney- H.Vincent Harsha, Harold M. Knoth, William A.

Murray and John M. Nolan [s4] (HANGERS FOR FARM ABSTRACT: A markerchanger for grain drills having a pair 10 Cm 7 D 1 Fl of markers. Oneend of an arm is mounted on a caster wheel to me, raw n: 88- the frontof the drill, the other end of the arm being secured to [52] 11.8. CI.172/130, an intermediate portion of a cable whose ends are connected111/33 to the markers. Turning of the grain drill towards the down [51Int. Cl. A011) 35/32 marker will cause the caster wheel to swivel, whichwill in turn [50] Field of Search 172/130, cause the cable to pull upthe down marker, the other marker 126, 127, 129; 1 1 H33 being permittedto fall to its marking position.

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I 1' I I l'llll-llilfl'li'li'll' l' l' l' I' l 1 |Ill|l|||l l|l|l|l b N\Patented Nov. 3, 1970 Sheet INVENTORS Meier/1v t. Jail/6'0 By Emma Pfloral 00;: M Jrrnw Patented Nov. 3, 1970 Sheet I'NVENTORS M42?! 1.fill/9:0 y 4124 P Mei/P5190035 Patented Nov. 3, 1970 3,537,533

FIG. 5

V [NVEN'TORS E RL emoaenouse a 3 MARVIN L. JOHNSON V Patented Nov. 3,1970 3,537,533

Sheet 5 o! 5 INVENTORS 1 EARL P. MOREHOUSE 8 MARVIN L. JOHNSON AUTOMATICMARKER CHANGERS FOR FARM IMPLEMENTS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of applicantscopending application Ser. No. 574,162, flied 22 Aug. i966, nowabandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improvement inapparatus for automatically changing the markers of an agriculturalimplement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART There are several control means known inthe art for changing the markers of an implement. These require manualcontrol or are controlled by the tractor used, and in some instances themarkers are connected to one another as by a cable. Reference is had toU. S. Letters Pat. Nos. 3,l46,833; 2,537,543; 2,546,412; 3,101,787;3,021,905; 1,888,502 and 2,362,693.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention herein toprovide a simply constructed apparatus for automatically changing themarkers of an implement by uctlon'of the implement itself free fromcontrol of the tractor pulling the implement and free from manualcontrol.

it is another object of the invention herein to provide control meansfor changing markers whereas the markers are independent of one anotherand are controlled by the implement upon a change of direction of travelof the implement.

More specifically it is an object of one modification of the inventionherein to provide means for changing markers in connection with animplement equipped with a leading caster or swivel wheel wherein a rigidactuating arm is attached to said caster wheel, a flexible memberconnects said actuating arm and a rigid member is used for engagementbetween said marker and said actuatingarm whereby said actuating armupon swinginglaterally respectively pulls one marker and pushes theother to respectively change their positions.

It is an object of another modification of the invention herein toprovide means for changing markers on an implement equipped with aleading caster or swivel wheel wherein a rigid actuating arm is attachedto said caster wheel, there being a cable interconnecting the markers onthe implement BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top planview of an implement showing installed thereon a first form of thecontrol means comprising the invention herein;

FIG. 2 is a view in front elevation of the invention shown in FIG. Iwith a portion thereof being shown in an alternate position in dottedline;

FIG. 3 is a broken view in plan showing a gang or plurality ofimplements embodying the use of the first form of the invention herein;

F IG. 4 is a view in vertical section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2 asindicated;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an implement showing installed thereon asecond form of the control means of this invention, the implement'swivelwheel being in its straight ahead position;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the actuating arm shown inFIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the actuating armand swivel wheel showing the position they assume when the implement isbeing backed up.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following descriptionright-hand and left-hand reference is determined by standing to the rearof the implement and facing the direction of travel.

Referring to the drawings, an agricultural implement I0 is shown asrepresentative of implements with which it is desira ble to use markers.For the most part, such implements are planting or seeding implements.The implement here shown comprises a basic frame 12 having a rear framemember 13, a forward frame member 14 and right and left and framemembers I5 and 16, respectively.

Carried on said frame is a conventional hopper I7 and mounted rearwardlyof said frame are packing or press wheels I9. Carried under said hopperand conventionally secured to said frame are furrow openers which may bein the form of disc openers 20 (FIG. 4) or the conventional hoe openers.

Rigidly secured to said frame (as by welding) and extending forwardlythereof is a V-shaped frame supporting member 21 having a verticallydisposed hub or sir-eve 23 at its apex forming a bearing. A caster orswivel wheel assembly 25 is mounted with a vertically extending shaft 26journaled into said hub and extending somewhat thereabove. Dependingfrom said shaft is a fork 27 having journaled therein a wheel 28.

A tow member in the form of a bail 30 (FIG. I) may extend forwardly fromsaid frame 10 about said swivel wheel, and to this may be attached thedrawbar of a tractor.

Secured to the upwardly extending portion of said shaft 26 to be rigidtherewith and extending rearwardly of said swivel wheel assembly 25normal to the axis thereof is an actuating arm 35.

Said rearward and forward frame members 13 and 14 have laterallyextending downwardly inclined right end portions 1311-14 and left endportions I3b-14b, respectively. Pivoted to said end portions 13a and 14aby bolts or rivets 37 is a marker 38, and pivoted to the end portions13b and 14b in like manner is a marker 39.

Said markers may be variously designed. The specific design of themarkers shown here forms no part of this invention. Said markers areshown here carrying ground-engaging discs 41 at their respective freeends and are shown being of a general V-shape in plan having arms 43-44and 45-46, respectively. Said markers will be in operative position whenin a ground-engaging position and will be in inoperative position whenin a raised position. The markers for the implement shown in FIGS. 1-4will be inclined inwardly of the adjacent ends of the frame to an overcenter position when they are in their fully raised position, themarkers engaging the marker support or stop bars 49 and 50 which extendoutwardly from either end of the hopper structure.

In the form of invention shown in FIGS. 1-4 the forward arm 44 of themarker 38 is provided with an arm 52 extending upwardly and at rightangles to the arm 44. The arm has at its free end a crossbar 52a. I Saidcrossbar will be vertically disposed when said marker arm is in agenerally horizontal position. A marker arm 53 is similarly carried bythe forward arm 46 of the marker 39 and has at its free end a crossbar53a.

Connecting said marker arm 52 and said actuating arm 35 is a flexiblemember 55 which may be in the form of a cable or chain. In like manner aflexible member 56 connects said marker arm 53 and said actuating arm35. With reference to FIG. 2, with a marker in ground-engaging position,its flexible member will be in a fairly taut condition having a smalldegree of slack therein. With a marker in raised or inoperativeposition, its flexible member will be in a substantially slack position,as is quite apparent.

The marker arms 52 and 53 will be of such length with regard to theirrespective positions longitudinally of said markers 38 and 39, that whena marker is in inoperative position as shown in FIG. 2, the actuatingarm upon swinging laterally with the turning of the swivel wheel, willengage the respective crossbar 52a, 53a and push the marker arm thereofa sufficient distance to move the marker beyond an over center positionto the point where said marker will drop to a ground-engaging operativeposition.

ln a related manner, the flexible members 55 and 56 will be of suchlength with respect to the positions of the marker arms that a lateralswinging action of the actuating arm in connection with a directionalchange of the swivel wheel, will pull a marker to an upward over centerinoperative position.

It will be understood that the extent of directional change necessaryfor a change of the markers will be related to the positions of themarker arms and their respective lengths and the lengths of the flexiblemembers. These things are matters to be determined by the operator.

The markers are changed automatically by a directional turn of theswivel wheel 25. In the operation of an implement, which generally willbe a seeding implement, the planting will be done in parallel rowsformed by the implement reversing its direction 180 at the end of eachrow. The implement may also be operated where its directional turn mayonly be on the order of 90. The length of the marker arms and theirlocation on the markers together with the length of the flexible memberswill be such as to provide for the changing of the markers in a range ofdirectional turn as from approximately 90 to 180.

It will be understood that the first form of the invention herein alsoembodies the scope of having a pair of swivel wheels on an implementwith the marker at each end of the implement being connected to andoperated by its adjacent swivel wheeland with the changing of bothmarkers being coordinated by the fact that the swivel wheels both turnin the same direction at the same time.

With reference to FIG. 3, a plurality of laterally aligned or a gang ofidentical implements are shown with one end implement, indicated by thecharacter 10, showing the marker 38 mounted thereon as above described,and the other end implement has mounted on the free end thereof themarker 39' which is identical to the marker 39 as described. The samecooperating elements are used with the implement it) and have the samecharacters as like parts above described with a prime added. Thisarrangement embodies the use of separate swivel wheels for the changingof the markers.

With respect to an implement or a gang of implements as the case may be,the marker at the end making the sweep of the turn will be pushed toground-engaging operating position and the marker at the pivot end ofthe implement will be pulled up to a raised inoperative position.

In the form of the Invention shown in FIGS. 5-7, the markers areinterconnected to each other in a conventional manner by a cable 60. Inthis form the two markers move together from a stable position, whereone marker is down and the other raised, through a balanced positionshown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 5, where both members are about halfwaybetween their lowered operative position and raised inoperativeposition, to another stable position shown in the dot-dot lines in FIG.5, where said one marker is raised and said other marker is lowered. Ifthe markers are between the balanced position and either the raised orlowered position, they are in an unstable position. Thus, if neither ofthe markers are touching the ground and if one is lower than the other,they will be in an unstable position and the lower member, which has agreater moment arm about the pivot bolt 37, will swing down until itengages the ground, drawing up the other marker to its raisedinoperative stable position.

The cable 60 is secured at one end to the outer end of the marker 38 andpasses over first and second sheaves 62, 66, and the other end of thecable 60 is secured to the marker 39. The first sheave 62 is carried byan upstanding arm 64 whose lower end is secured to the end frame member15. The second sheave 66 is carried by an upstanding arm 68 whose lowerend is secured to the end frame member l6.

The actuating arm 35, when used with an implement having its membersinterconnected in this manner, is secured to a portion of the cable 60between the sheaves 62, 66 by a chain 70. The rear end of the chain ispreferably secured to that portion of the cable directly behind the arm35 when the swivel wheel is in a straight-ahead position and the markersare in a balanced position. The length of the chain is determined by theoperator and it should be long enough to permit limited swiveling of thewheel 25 while short enough to insure that the lower marker is raisedpast the balanced position when the grain drill is turned toward thelowered marker at the end of I the field.

The actuating arm assembly 35 includes a tubular member 72 and anextension member 74 having a plurality of spaced apertures 76 by whichit may be adjustably secured to the member 72 by bolts 7%. The arm '72,"Ml is secured to a channel-shaped member 80 by means of a pivot bolt32.. A pair of stops 84, 86 are welded in the channel member 80 and thearm 72, 74 may pivot between the stops. Thus, when the wheel as sembly25 turns more than 90 from its normal straight-ahead position, shown inFIG. 5, the arm 72, 74 may swing from engagement with the stop 86 (FIG.5) to a position where it engages the stop 84 (FIG. 7).

The channel member 80 is secured to a base plate Sill for adjustablerotational positioning. The base plate 90 is in turn rigidly secured tothe spindle shaft 26.

While the form of marker shown in FIGS. 5-7 is only illustrated inconjunction with a single swivel wheel, it should be observed that thegrain drill illustrated in FIG. 5 may be provided with a second swivelwheel. When two or more grain drills are hooked up in side-to-sidefashion, it may be desirable to employ a second actuating arm since thewheel nearest the lowered marker will turn more as the implement isturned toward the lowered marker. Thus, two actuating arms may beemployed with this form in the manner shown in FIG. 3, with the cable-60still interconnecting one marker with the other.

While the preferred structures in which the principles of the presentinvention have been incorporated are shown and described above, it is tobe understood that the invention is not to be limited to the particulardetails, shown and described above, but that, in fact, widely differentmeans may be employed in the practice of the broader aspects of theinvention.

Iclaim:

1. In combination with a grain drill having a frame with forward hitchmeans adapted for connection to a tractor, press wheel means to the rearof the frame, a swivel wheel castored to the front of the frame infore-and-aft alignment with the hitch means, right and left markerscarried at the sides of the frame for swinging'movement between alowered marking position and a raised inoperative position, and cablemeans secured to each of said markers and extending towards the other ofsaid markers, a marker changing apparatus including: an actuating armcarried by said swivel wheel for movement with the wheel as the wheelcasters in response to turning of the implement, said arm extendingrearwardly when the swivel wheel is disposed for forward movement of thegrain drill, and means connecting said cable means with said arm, thecable means and arm being of such length that as the grain drill isturned toward the lowered marker at the end of the field the rear end ofthe actuating arm will swing away from the lowered marker causing it tobe raised while permitting the raised marker to be lowered.

2. A marker changing apparatus for an agricultural implement having aframeand a shaft supported swivel wheel extending forwardly of saidframe having in combination, a pair of markers, means respectivelyswingably supporting said markers adjacent either end of said-frame,said markers being operative when in ground-engaging position and beinginoperative when in elevated position, an actuating arm carried by andextending rearwardly of said swivel wheel normal to the axis thereof,flexible means connecting each of said markers with said actuating arm,rigid means carried by each of said markers for engagement by saidactuating arm, and said flexible means and said rigid means respectivelybeing arranged and constructed to be operated bysaid actuating arm toraise an operative marker to inoperative position and to lower aninoperative marker to operative position simultaneously.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2, wherein said rigid meanscomprises an arm upstanding from each of said markers, and said arms areof such a length that when respectively engaged by said actuating arm,they are moved a sufficient distance to swing their respective markersto over center positions away from said frame whereby said markersrespectively will fall to ground-engaging operative position.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3, wherein each of said arms havecrossbars adjacent their respective free ends.

5. The structure set forth in claim 2, wherein said actuating arm issecured to said shaft of said swivel wheel for lateral movement with thedirectional turn of said swivel wheel.

6. A marker changing apparatus for an agricultural implement having aframe and a shaft supported swivel wheel extending forwardly of saidframe having in combination, a pair of markers, means respectivelyswingably supporting said markers adjacent either end of said frame,said markers being operative in ground-engaging position and beinginoperative in elevated position, a marker arm upstanding from each ofsaid markers, an actuating arm carried by said swivel wheel andextending rearwardly thereof normal to the axis thereof and beingadapted to move laterally with a directional turn of said wheel, aflexible member connecting each of said markers with said actuating arm,and said flexible members and said marker arms each being of such alength that when said swivel wheel is turned to change the direction oftravel of said implement, said flexible member connected to theground-engaging marker at the pivot of the turn is pulled up by theswing of said actuating arm to inoperative position, and the marker armof the other of said markers which moves through the sweep of the turnis engaged by said swinging actuating arm and is pushed to swing saidlast-mentioned marker to a ground-em gaging operative position.

7. in combination with a grain drill having a frame with forward hitchmeans adapted for connection to a tractor, a swivel wheel assemblycastored on the front of the frame in fore-andaft alignment with thehitch means, and right and left markers carried at the sides of theframe for swinging movement between a lowered marking position and araised inoperative position, said markers being interconnected by acable disposed over said frame and operative to cause one marker to beraised as the other is lowered, the markers as they move between theirraised and lowered positions passing through unstable positions toeither side of an intermediate balanced position, the one marker beinglower than the other in the unstable position and operative to swingdown to the ground-engaging position causing the other marker to bemoved to its fully raised position; a marker changing apparatusincluding: an actuating arm, means securing said actuating arm to saidswivel wheel assembly for caston'ng therewith in response to turning ofthe implement, said arm extending rearwardly when the swivel wheelassembly is disposed for forward movement of the grain drill, andflexible means connecting said cable with said arm and of such lengththat when the grain drill is turned toward the lowered marker saidmarker is raised through the balanced position to an unstable position.

8. The combination set forth in claim 7 in which said securing meansincludes a member mounted on said swivel wheel assembly, pivot meanspassing through said member and said arm and operative to normally holdsaid arm for fore-and-aft swinging movement, and stop means onsaidmember to limit the swinging of said arm.

9. The combination set forth in claim 7 in which said grain drill haspress wheel means to the rear of said frame, said frame being supportedby said press wheel means and said swivel wheel means;

10. The combination set forth in claim 7 in which said so tuating arm isformed of two members, one of said members being secured to the otherfor adjustable positioning whereby the length of the actuating arm maybe varied.

